The day April 30, 2013 was be a day of a big change in the Dutch throne. And not just because of the abdication of the Queen Beatrix, but also because for the first time for 123 years the Netherlands has a male’s ruler, Willem-Alexander, the son of the former queen. New king has decided to keep his previous name.
The ceremony of the transfer of the authority was held at the Royal Palace on Dam Square in Amsterdam. There, in the Moses Room, Beatrix signed the Act of Abdication, where the new king also put his signature.
Queen Beatrix signs the Act of Abdication
Then the Act was shown to the chairmen of both houses of the States-General, the Council of Ministers, the other members of the ruling family, and Vice-President of the Council of State.
Act of Abdication
After the abdication Beatrix transmits her titles to the new monarch, retaining only the titles of Princess Lippe-Biesterfeld and Duchess of Orange-Nassau. The spouse of Willem-Alexander, Maxima, received the title of Princess of the Netherlands. After the ceremony princess Beatrix, king Willem-Alexander, Maxima and their daughters greeted the audience on the Dam Square from the balcony and the new king gave a short speech.
The new king and his family greetings
Then the royal family went to the Nieuwe Kerk, where during a combined session of both Houses of Parliament the king was sworn in. (Actually he used the old formula “So help me god”).
For more details of the enthronement of the Dutch monarch go to the article Monarchy.
After the ceremony Willem-Alexander participated in the audience to members of the States-General and invited guests, among them 500 guests of the royal family, 225 members of parliament, the delegates of Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten, and more than 140 ambassadors of countries with which the Netherlands has diplomatic relations. (Note the absence of the Princess Maxima family due to her father’s Jorge Zorreguieta membership in the infamous Videl regime.) The Nieuwe Kerk church can accommodate up to 2000 people.
The swore from a distance
Later the new king took a boat trip on the Lake IJ to Music aan ‘t IJ, where the party for the guests was arranged.
A good bye by queen Beatrix.
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Read also: The House of Orange.
Źródło: Wikipedia, www.koninklijkhuis.nl